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TABLE SAWRIPPING JIG

2009 August Home Publishing Co.

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Table Saw Ripping Jig

FeaTuRe pRoJecT

Cutting thin strips can be a real challenge. These tips and techniquewill guarantee safe, accurate results every time.

t seems like many o the proj-ects I build call or thin stripso wood. Sometimes its sev-

eral thin strips to glue up into a bent lamination or just a ew stripsto act as dividers in a small drawer.

And even i all I need are a couplestrips to cover up some plywoodedges, cutting them on the tablesaw can be a challenge.

No matter what your need, thegoal is to get the best results withaccuracy and sa ety in mind. Thenice thing is, all this takes is theright setup, a handy jig, and a ew simple tips and techniques.

start with the blade

One thing about ripping thin stripsthats o ten overlooked is the saw

blade. In most cases, a standardcombination blade will give you great results. I this is the blade you useor most o your work, Id stick withit. But there are a couple o other blades you may want to consider.

specialty saw blades. The saw bladesin the photos at the lower le t addressa couple o thin strip issues. The ar le t blade is speci cally designed

or making rip cuts that result in sur aces smooth enough toglue up. Well, one o the maingoals o ripping thin strips is toend up with a workpiece thats

smooth and ree o blade marksand burning. And Freuds GlueLine Rip blade gives you just that. This can be a real advan-tage when it comes to gluing up

I

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Saw Blade Options. A specialized ripping blad(far left blade) makes for smoother strips and

faster cutting. Using a thin-kerf combination bladwill result in more strips per workpiece.

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strips into a bent lamination. I youhave to cut extra-thick strips andthen plane or sand them smooth,

your bent lamination may not end uplooking like a single piece o wood.

The glue line rip blade ensures that the only material you lose is thethickness o the saw ker .

thin Kerf. The thin-ker blade shownon page 1 can also result in less

waste. With a thickness o 3 32", youget one extra thin strip or every our

you cut ( or 1 8"-thick strips). This cansave you a air amount o material i

you have a lot o thin strips to cut.insert. Regardless o the saw blade

you decide to use, youll want to installa zero-clearance insert with a built-insplitter. The one I use is shown in thebox below. Besides preventing thethin strips rom alling between theinsert and blade, the added splitter keeps the strips rom pinching thesaw blade and kicking back.

setting up for the cut

With your saw blade and new insert installed, youre just about ready to start cutting strips. But toget the best results, its a good idea to make sure the saw is tuned up.

And this is just a matter o checkinga couple key settings.

square the blade. The rst thing totake a look at is the blade angle. You

want to make sure the saw blade isset at a per ect 90 angle to the table(photo above). The reason or this issimple. A slight tilt to the blade willresult in a strip thats thinner alongone edge than the other. This cancause problems i you glue up a set o strips like this or a bent lamination.

rip fence. The other setting youll want to check has to do with the ripence. I the ence isnt parallel to the

saw blade, youll get blade marksand burned edges as well as anincreased risk o kickback. A simpledial indicator makes quick work o ensuring your rip ence is set right (photo above). With the saw set up,

youre ready to turn the page andstart ripping thin strips with ease.

{ Set the Blade to 90. A drafting triangle makes it a snap to squarethe saw blade to the table.

ZERO-CLEARANCE INSERT & SPLITTER

FLUSH-TRIM BIT

Cut-off screw forms pin to lock insert in place

Hardwood splitter prevents workpiece from binding

Paint top easy visibi

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A zero-clearance insert witha splitter is one o the bigkeys to success ully rippingthin strips. The insert pre-

vents a strip rom gettingtrapped between the bladeand the opening. And thesplitter keeps the strip rombinding on the blade.

To make a new insert or your table saw, youll need

to start with a blank that matches the thickness o your stock insert. (Note: I the material is thinner, youcan add screws to the bottomso you can adjust it per ectly fush with the saw table.)

A ter tracing the outlineo the original insert on theblank, cut away most o the

waste (Figure 1). Then usea fush-trim bit in the router

table to create an identicalinsert (Figure 1a).

Ripping a slot in the new insert is just a matter o align-ing the ence with the edge o the original insert and mak-ing a stopped cut (Figure 2).

Finally, cut a hardwoodsplitter to size, sand one endto a point, and glue it into theker with the point acing the

blade (photo at right).

a.1

2

{ Dead-On Fe A dial indicmakes it eacheck the fand rear of

fence and ethat its parthe miter slthe saw bla

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Even a ter truing up your saw andselecting the blade, theres a littlemore to ripping thin strips than

just setting the ence and cutting.First, Ill mention a ew basic tech-niques that apply. A ter that, Ill

R ipping a Long Strip. Position the jig in front of the blade and tighten it in place. Then slide a workpiece up to the bearing, snug up the rip fence on the workpiece, and make the cut.

ZZero the Gauge. The key to the accuracy of this set-up gauge is to rest the bearing against a tooth on the saw blade and zero out the scale.

How to Rip Thin Stripsshow you the shop-made jig I useto handle cutting thin strips.

the basics

When it comes to ripping thin strips,one o the most important things to

do be ore you start is set up sometype o out eed table. The reason or this is simple. Without support, thestrips are going to all o the backedge o the saw table, and I dont

want to give mysel any reason toreach over the saw blade and try to catch them. Plus, having thempile up on the foor is just a mess Illhave to deal with later.

blade height. With an out eed tablein place, the next step is to set theheight o the saw blade. What you

want is the teeth to just clear the topsur ace o the workpiece. This way,theres not too much blade exposed.

feed technique. All thats le t to do isturn the saw on and eed the work-piece through. The main thing is touse a smooth, even eed rate. Thisensures the saw blade wont burnthe edges or leave tooth marks.

the jig. As you can see, this jig

locks into the miter slot to the le t o the saw blade. A rub bearing xedto the end o a sliding top is used togauge the thickness o the strips.

The bearing allows the work-piece to slide without binding. By

adding a scale and anadjustment slot in thetop o the jig, you can

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set the exact thickness o the strip you want to rip a ter zeroing out thegauge (upper le t photo on page 3).

using the jig. To rip a strip, set the workpiece against the bearing andthen slide the rip ence up against the workpiece. A ter locking downthe ence, you can make your cut

(upper right photo on page 3).Be ore each additional pass, just repeat the process. Once your work-piece is down to about 1" wide, itstime to start over with a new one.

Theres one last thing to mention. And thats the look o your thinstrips. To match your needs per-ectly, check out the box at right.

GRAIN ORIENTATION: GETTING IT RIGHT

One o the keys to getting the best-looking strips rom a workpiece is to make sure the grain direction is right. What I mean by this is that its more important topay attention to the grain along the edge o a board than it is to the grain on the ace.

You can see what I mean by checking out the photo. Even though the ace o the boardeatures a wavy, cathedral grain, the stripsripped rom the edge are actually straight-grained. And that may be important i youre edg-ing plywood with a similar grain. Ripping your edgingrom a ri tsawn or quartersawn board will most likely result in wild grain, which may not be the best look or a project.